Was Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong complicit in the cover-up of 1MDB scandal to help his buddy, former Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak? Most Singaporeans would think it’s incredibly insane to think that their leader would do such a despicable thing. After all, Singaporeans are proud of the perception that their country is the most corrupt-free nation in Southeast Asia.

 

But what if Singapore has indeed been closing one eye at corrupt leaders who stash their ill-gotten money in the island all this while? In truth, the country’s reputation has taken a hit over 1MDB scandal, arguable the world’s biggest money laundering as far as the United States Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, a program within the Department of Justice, is concerned.

 

The earliest revelation that Singapore was somehow involved in scratching Najib’s back in the theft of US$4.5 billion (as revealed by U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation in the misappropriation of the 1MDB funds) occurred in May, just weeks after the downfall of Najib regime, when Swiss national Xavier Andre Justo dropped a bombshell.

Mr. Justo revealed that the interview he gave to The Straits Times, mouthpiece of Singapore, three years ago was manipulated and scripted. That exclusive interview on July 24, 2015, was done because he had allegedly been blackmailed by two individuals to say according to a “prepared script” in order to help secure his early release from prison.

 

PetroSaudi director Patrick Mahony, together with Paul Finnegan, a UK private detective who disguised himself as a Scotland Yard detective, were the individuals who handed Justo the prepared 50 questions and answers used during the interview. Justo was told not to bring up the name of Jho Low, partner-in-crime of Najib Razak.

 

The biggest mystery – why The Straits Times’ interviewer Nirmal Ghosh was given the exclusive privilege to interview Mr. Justo in prison at a time when even the Malaysian police could not meet him? Conveniently, Justo was threatened to admit he had stolen data from his former employer PetroSaudi and sold it to a group of people planning to bring down the Najib administration.

Thanks to what appears to be a screw-up in the Singapore immigration department, another proof that the Lee Hsien Loong administration could have had its fair share in protecting scandal-plagued Najib Razak has been unveiled. Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown was briefly detained in Singapore on Saturday (Sept 15) morning following the launch of her book about 1MDB scandal.

 

“Turns out ‘someone’ put her on the blacklist in 2016 but the Singapore authorities were baffled about why she had been placed on the list,” – according to a post on the Sarawak Report Facebook page. Fortunately, her detention at 1am was a brief one, but Ms. Clare, who is considered a heroine in Malaysia, was freed – with a handshake – only after clarifying who she was.

 

Rewcastle-Brown was in Singapore to launch her 528-page book – “The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose” – which chronicles the probe into the sovereign wealth fund scandal and details her experiences on exposing corruption in Malaysia. 1MDB is at the centre of money-laundering probes in at least eight countries, including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.

 

The most puzzling part was when “they suggested she raise the problem of the ‘mystery blacklisting’ with the authorities.” Obviously, the Singapore immigration officers could offer zero satisfactory explanation and were caught with their pants down with regards to the blacklisting of the British investigative journalist Rewcastle Brown, as their computer system says she is banned.

 

The current Singapore ICA (Immigration and Checkpoints Authority) Commissioner is Malvin Sim. He has just taken over the post from Clarence Yeo effective 3 September this year. Mr Clarence, who had been the ICA Commissioner for 8 years since Sept 1, 2010, reported directly to K Shanmugam, who has been Singapore Minister of Home Affairs since 2010.

 

Mr. Shanmugam is the same person who went berserk early of this month after 5 naughty Singaporen activists were granted an 80-minute meeting (as compared to PM Lee Hsien Loong’s 30-minute) with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mr. Mahathir was invited to speak at a conference on democracy in Southeast Asia, hence challenging Singapore as the beacon of democracy.

ICA Commissioner would not have had blacklisted the British investigative journalist without an order from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The screw-up wasn’t a mistake simply because Singapore is an extremely efficient nation that does not make such blunder. Coincidently, 2016 was also the year when the U.S-DOJ mentioned “Malaysian Official 1” – over 30 times – as the crook who had control over 1MDB.

 

“Malaysian Official 1”, later identified as Najib Razak, was alleged to have received around US$681 million (popularly known by Malaysians as RM2.6 billion) of stolen 1MDB money via Falcon Bank, Singapore on 21 and 25 March 2013. In June 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice began moves to recover more than US$1 billion from people close to Najib and 1MDB.

 

In 2015, a year before Singapore seemed to have blacklisted Clare, the Malaysian police issued an arrest warrant for Ms Rewcastle-Brown. In the same year (2015), she reportedly came under protection from the British police. She claimed to have been followed and photographed in London while having tea at a restaurant in Hyde Park.

A week before she was to give a keynote address on November 21, 2016 at an antifraud conference in Singapore, Clare Rewcastle Brown received an anonymous email with a tip – “Dear Madam, I want to thank you for exposing all the corruption and wrongdoing in Malaysia. I am writing to you urgently with regards to your upcoming trip to Singapore.”

 

“The (Malaysian) Special Branch knows that you are coming and they have arranged with their Singapore counterparts to arrest you on arrival,” – warned the anonymous email. Not ready to take the risk, she gave her speech from her dining room, which also functions as her newsroom. Clare apologized for not being able to speak to attendees of the 2016 ACFE Fraud Conference Asia-Pacific.

 

Rewcastle Brown told the audience during a live studio uplink in 2016 – “Our trip became apparent to Malaysian authorities and they issued yet another extradition request for my arrest. Given the close extradition agreements that are in place in Singapore, it seemed to be a bad idea to come.” Hence, it’s not hard to understand why Clare had been briefly detained by Singaporean authorities.

PM Lee Hsien Loong administration had blacklisted the British lady who exposed the scandal that started a great war which would lead to the downfall of the Singapore leader’s good friend – Najib Razak. And after the new government of Mahathir took over, none within Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority or the Ministry of Home Affairs has updated its database accordingly.

 

Perhaps the previous ICA Commissioner Clarence Yeo or Mr. Shanmugam’s boys have forgotten Najib is no longer Malaysia’s premier. After all, Singapore is still adjusting itself with the new political landscape after the unexpected victory of Pakatan Harapan coalition. But the fact remains that the blacklist fiasco proves that Singapore had been assisting Najib regime in targeting whistleblower Clare Rewcastle Brown.

 

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• The Mahathir Effect – The 80 Minutes Meeting That Has Gotten Singapore Terribly Upset
• Singapore Will Be Seen As Harbouring Crooks If Jho Low’s $35 Million Bombardier Jet Is Not Returned
• Playing 3R Cards – Straits Times Singapore Still Hopeful Najib’s Corrupt UMNO Can Make A Comeback
• Mahathir Is Moving For The Kill – Scraps RM110 Billion HSR Project, And There’s Nothing Singapore Can Do
• Was Singapore The “Hidden Hand” Who Spun Justo Story To Protect Crooked Najib In 1MDB Scandal?
• Why The Hell Didn’t Crooks Najib And Rosmah Flee Instantly After They Lost The Election?
• This Chart Shows How US-DOJ Links Auntie Rosie To A $27-Million Pink Diamond
• Swiss A.G. – Najib’s 1MDB Scammed At Least $800 Million Using “Ponzi Scheme”
• What Took You So Long, Singapore? Trying To Cover Najib’s 1MDB Scandal?
• One Big Family Of Crooks? Najib’s In-Law Took Hermes Bags Without Paying

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September 17th, 2018 by financetwitter

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